The Ranger Games
by Insert a Catchy Penname Here
Summary: 24 tributes. One areana. A bloodthirsity audience watching. Hurt. Family watching at home. Comfort. Romance. Ladies and gentleman, let 74th Hunger Games begin!
1. They're not going to pick you

The Ranger Games 1

Author Note: Okay, so Diana requested I write this. So it's going to be basically Hunger Games with the Shinkengers/Samurai, but to avoid copywrite, I'll write it with different points and such. Okay? :D Enjoy!

_XXXXXX_

The sunlight peeked in shyly between the dirty white curtains on the day of District 12's reaping.

Mako's eyes fluttered twice before opening up to the harsh reality that was now her life. A few decades back, their rivals had finally won and formed into a cruel government known as the Capitol. They consisted of human freaks with monster appearances in some places and growling, New-York styled accents.

She lived in the Seam of District 12, which had to be the most unfortunate part of all the Districts. Her father had been killed in a mining accident, and their mother was severely wounded from a public whipping a year back for trying to coax the others of an uprising in their District.

It was a stupid idea of her. And now Mako and her little sister Kotoha were having to suffer the price for her.

"Mako?" a small voice whispered in her ear, and the sixteen year old smiled gently as she rolled over, wrapping her arms around her small, fragile figure.

"Yes, sweetheart?" she was positive that her little sister was the only one she would ever love…even if she had Ryunosuke in her life too…

He was her hunting partner. Yes, she had to find a way to help the family survive…even their idiot dying mother. After two years of doing it alone since she was nine, she'd met him. He was two years older than her, and the two had slowly become hunting partners and best friends. Now he was eighteen…and Kotoha was twelve.

"What if I get picked, May?" the small girl inquired to her big sister, using her nickname.

"I'll go for you, Little Duck," she tucked in the duck tail her nightshirt formed, making her little sister giggle, "your name's in there once…you won't go. It's going to be okay."

_XXXXXX_

The leaves barely crunched as she made her way across the forest floor. She'd snuck out of the 'electric' fence around them, like every day, and now she had earned herself a belt of skinned rabbits. Pulling back the string of her bow and arrow, she aimed for a blackbird, but this bird was not destined to die on that morning.

"BOO!" Rynunosuke laughed loudly when she jumped, her arrow flying into a tree limb and the bird taking off.

"You jerk!" she slapped his arm, beginning to climb, "I could've had him!"

Chuckling, he shrugged and held up a sack that was wet at the bottom, "I got berries. What's it matter?"

"Right. I'll just shoot you through the eye," she notched her arrow and aimed at him playfully before jumping down easily, "give me a berry."

The two just sat on a log for a while, eating tart berries for about half an hour and even munching on a rabbit after starting a fire. They talked about the things they usually did…how they hated the Capitol, how they loved their little siblings, and dreams of being free.

"We could all live in the woods…just run away," he spoke whistfully, and she slapped him in the back of head gently.

"No way would I put Kotoha in the woods," her tone was light, teasing and scolding, but it still was the truth.

"Same thing with April, June, and May," he remembered his three little sisters, "or August…even if he _is _a brother."

_XXXXXX_

Even if she had been reassured by her sister, Kotoha was clinging to her big sister's waist as the District filed in for the reaping. Everyone's faces were sunken and depressed, and the eligible for the Games had wide, scared, teary eyes, just like Kotoha.

"I promise it'll be okay," Mako whispered gently, "now, go stand with the other twelve year olds. I'll see you afterwards, alright?"

When the majority of their District was in, Kaoru stepped onto the stage delicately. She was a no nonsense girl, and yet, being from the Capitol, she was a little fragile…and okay, yes, prissy.

"Welcome, welcome!" her voice was high and squeaky, and it sounded like her mechanical bones just got worked on, since her hips kept swinging all over the place, "anyway…let's get the ball rolling, shall we?"

She wobbled her way to the bowls, and the sixteen chuckled softly at the sight of her sibling giggling into her hands. Mako was so focused on her sister she didn't even realize her name being called until she stiffened, looking ready to die.

Face pale as the moon, Kotoha slipped her way out of the crowd and started to the stage, stiffened and scared. She looked ready to accept her destiny going into the merciless Hunger Games…but Mako wouldn't allow it to happen. She wouldn't put her in the woods…so _certainly _she wouldn't be going into a bloodbath.

"Kotoha!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, running forward as fast as she could, "Kotoha!"

"Mako…no," but the twelve year old's words weren't heard about her sister's next cry.

"I volunteer! I volunteer as a tribute!" the older girl reached the small girl, kissing her forehead and holding her tight, "Kotoha…go back with Rynunosuke."

"No! I can't let you go…" Kotoha's double braids were clinging to her teary face as she struggled, her blouse forming another duck tail in the back, "somebody! Somebody else please…I can't let you go!"

"I would if I could, Little Duck," and suddenly her hunting partner/best friend was there, picking up the scared girl, "shhhhh….she'll win for us."

Mako climbed on stage now, scared stiff but her face emotionless. Koaru's face lite up when she got her name, seeing the resemblance in the last names.

"I bet that was your sister!" she chuckled, and the older girl just nodded once and stiffly as Kotoha cried against her best friend.

_XXXXXX_

"Why….why you? You shouldn't be going…it should be me…." Kotoha was still weeping as she ran to her sister's arms in the Justice Building, climbing into her lap and holding on tight.

"You'll be safe and sound…." She promised, kissing her eyes gently and rubbing her back, "look….Rynunosuke will keep you fed, and you sell your goat cheese and milk, alright? Hunt if you have to, and put yourself before Mom."

"B-but…okay," she finally agreed shakily, "you'll come home, won't you?"

"I will," she promised softly, and suddenly, her little sister had clipped on the Japanese symbol for fire on her shirt in pin form.

"You are the fire in the darkness that is my life sometimes…" she whispered, kissing her cheek, "I love you, May."

"And I love you, Little Duck," and they didn't let go for a long, long time.

_XXXXXXX_

"Don't let her starve…." This was the first thing she said to him when he came as she ran into his arms, nestling a bit into his chest.

When they'd finally both gotten enough emotion out silently in each other's hugs, he whispered, "I won't. I promise I won't."

"Even if I die…" tears went down her face gently and noiselessly.

"Of course. We all adore your sister…we'd never let her die. And you're going to win," he kissed her nose, "I just know it."

_XXXXX_

She didn't know what to do about her fellow tribute.

Takeru had saved her life once…but it was a long time. Maybe if he was to win instead of her….maybe that'd repay the debt he'd made so long ago….

_XXXXXX  
_ Author Note: And there's chapter one for you! R and R, and Diana wanted me to tell you guys she hasn't written for a while because of this. Alright, cia for now! :D


	2. May the odds be ever in your favor

The Ranger Games 2

Ever since her father died, Mako had become a master at wiping her face clean of emotion. She stared straight ahead now, lost in her own thoughts of survival and how to repay Takeru. He'd always seemed very serious and disciplined, coming from the wealthier part of the District and such, even if he worked in a bakery. Even so, he had tearstains on cheeks, and by the way he stared straight ahead as well, he was trying to hide it.

"Now then!" Kaoru chirped as she wobbled her way into the room, her hips obviously still oiled down, "this is the train room where we eat. Please, eat to your heart's content...but use MANNERS!"

Mako's stomach, for one, snarled loudly. Unlike _him_, she hadn't eaten very well her entire life, so all this food...she was very tempted to stuff her face. She quickly made her way to the table, and she started to eat a small ammount. Her stomach moaned and whimpered and whined it's protests at not eating as much as she could, unlike how Takeru was doing, but she ignroed it. She allowed herself to become a little full and stopped, since there wouldn't be a lot of food in the arena. If her body got used to it, she'd be very screwed.

Like he probably was...

"Aren't we supposed to have a mentor? To give us life-saving advice?" now, she didn't really believe he would do that...he was middle-aged and was constantly drunk, so she didn't have faith in him. She had a strong feeling she was going to have to do what she'd taught herself in the woods as a pretty young girl, and do her best to surrvive on that.

"I'll go fetch him," after a moment of wobbling her way to her probably artifical feet, Kaoru went into the next cart, leaving the two of them alone.

She wouldn't bring herself to look at him. If she did, she would only be reminded more of that fateful night...

* * *

_"Mako..." Kotoha whimpered once pityfully from where she was on her sister's back, "I...don't feel so good again..." _

_The ten-year-old cursed a bit under her breathe, setting her younger sibling down on her feet, tilting her forth. If there was anything for her to vomit, she would've, but since she couldn't because niether of them had been eating for almost two weeks, she just tried to throw up, coughing violently until the high naseu spell passed. Even without touching her face directly, the older sister knew that the younger was slowly beginning to die, and while she didn't show it, it was ripping her apart inside. _

_Nobody was buying her old baby clothes at the Hob, and for the past week, Kotoha had been very sick. Mako didn't really know what she was doing, trying to care for her like this when she barely knew what was wrong in the first place. The tears mixed in with heavy rainfall as she rested the six-year-old little girl against a nearby tree, all but collasping beside her. _

_"I'm sorry..." the young girl's sobs were audible, "I'm...trying to be strong..." _

_"No...you don't have to be strong," the older sister shook her head, struggling to sit up beside her and wrap her arms around her, weakly praying for the icy rain to cool her spiked-up fever, "you don't have to be strong for me." _

_"But I don't want to die..." she sobbed softly, and her sister just hugged her tighter. _

_"You won't die...I won't let you," with their mother tuned out of reality and the stravation the family now of three growing worse day-by-day, at this point, Mako had given up on keeping her hopeless mother alive, or even herself. _

_Anything to save her sister, though. _

_"I'm sleep, May..." Kotoha slurred out, her rosy cheek, standing out painfully from her pale, sweaty face, resting on the other's bony shoulder. _

_It was dangerous for the little girl to fall asleep, and the ten-year-old was afraid to allow it. What if she never woke up from it? But in all honestly, nether of them had slept in almost three days, so what was the point of fighting it? _

_"Go on, take a nice, long nap," she soothed with a hoarse voice, sobbing a little as she realized the child was already asleep and couldn't hear now, "oh my gosh...she's JUST A CHILD!" _

_She was so busy sobbing what little fluid her body still contained, she barely registered that someone was watching the top. A dark figure had suddenly scooped both of them up easily, since they were both almost dead-weight. She was too weak to protest as she was tossed onto a sack of grain, and she wrapped her arms around her sibling, closing her own eyes. _

_She'd given up the fight for her own life, and she sent a quick prayer that whoever had just taken the two from the storm would care for Kotoha when she died..._

* * *

The smashing of glass brought the sixteen-year-old back into reality. When she looked up, she was met with dazed and glazed-over brown eyes...ugh, it was Mike.

She knew that he had won the 50th Annual Hunger Games, the year with twice as many tributes reaped. She'd never really watched 'his' Games, but she'd heard rumors he was very brave and lasted to the very end. But looking at this severely drunk man in all his (not) glory...she couldn't believe it. Probably some kind of edition from the Capitol to make it seem like a good Victor...

"Finally," Takeru was obviously not one to patience, "so...how do you win the Hunger Games?"

"Whoah, whoah, whoah," Mike waved his hands clumsily as he chugged his bottle of Whiskey a couple of times, "slow down. You're not supposed to be...eager."

"Eager? I'm trying to find out how to live and you're just being drunk-" the male tribute tried to grab the bottle now, but a sharp shove in the chest from Mike's foot pinned him to the soft leather of the chair he was sitting in.

"You made me spill my drink," the mentor slurred out, obviously displeased, "brand new pants."

Mako made no attempt to communicate. It was obvious to her she was right; she was going to have to go on her own surrival skils learned and her sharp instricts from being a hunter.

"Tell us how to win!" the other District 12 tribute was suddenly shouting, and the drunken man gripped his large bottle of beer tightly, stumbling to his own feet, but not because he had anything mechinical about him.

"Well...I think I am going to finish this is solitude," and just like that, he was gone from their car, leaving a steamed Takeru...

And a thoughtful Mako.

* * *

The female sixteen-year-old had never felt so violeted or so clean in her life.

Since District 12 didn't have good indoor plumping and the water was always very cold, she was apparently filthy when she came. All the scars from hunting, all the scratches, everything...somehow they were erased from her skin. But she refused to let them touch the one on her right wrist, the one where Kotoha had cut her once while she was trying to learn how to fight for surrival. Even if the older got hurt by it, she was proud of her sibling for proving she could be tough and she was strong as well as very wise.

The memories of her home almost made her tear up.

* * *

"That was one of the bravest things I've ever seen, chica," and suddenly the Head Stylist was there, and she felt the urge to cover her stark-naked body from his eyes.

"What do you mean?" she inquires, sitting up on the table to shield most of her uncovered body.

"I mean you volunteering for your sister," he was attractive and symbol, with his Mexican appearance and the gold on his eyelids that complimented his beautiful brown eyes, "my name is Antonio."

"And you're here to make me look pretty," she finished for him, but he shook his head, much to her surprise and pleasure.

"No. I'm here to show them what you're worth," and at this, she actually smiled a bit.

* * *

"I have to say..." Antonio smiled at her, "not only are you breathtakingly beautiful, but you look brilliant in that braid."

"Thank you," her face was mostly plain, like she prefered keeping it when in the Capitol, but the smile small couldn't be missed by someone who cared enough to look for a moment.

She'd decided she liked him. He was obviously nice, and she was proud of his handiwork, which surprised her a bit. Instead of being naked and covered in coal dust or something ridiclous, she was clothed in a black spandex with her hair in a french braid, the heavy eyeliner and mascarea making her look enticing and dangerous.

She loved it.

* * *

As soon as their chariot hit the brilliant lights, she was repulsed at the sea of purple hair and black-red swirled partners, the too-long eyelashes and the light pea-green skin. She was barely paying attention when she set her gaze on the big screen, taking a look at who would make up the Careers.

The District One guy who was pretty ugly and looked older, like he'd fought in some war. He looked over eighteen, but apparently he was or something. His parenter was elegant, and she was beautiful, and by the way she was wearing a few less accesories and showed off more skin, they were trying to make her seem sexy.

The District Two pair looked like those who could go together easily as a couple. The male had dirty blonde hair and icy eyes, and he a strong, mysterious aroma about him. The other was somewhat small but very beautiful, and she deadly and detirmined. The crazy thing was, other than the facial difference and the hair color...her and Mako looked a lot alike.

The other tributes didn't really catch her eye...until she saw District Eleven. The girl in that Chariot looked so much like Kotoha it seriously freaked the District 12 Seam girl out, but also made her fully aware of her concern for the young child. She was only twelve as well, and her hair was blonde and purr, a bit fluffy as she smiled shyly to the audience. Just from appearances and the cheers for her, she was a sweetheart...

Just like Kotoha.

Her partner was skinny and obviously physically fit, judging by the muscles and the detirmanation in her eyes. He didn't look like he wanted to be there, and yet, he was, probably not from choice. She refused to watch the replays of the reapings, anyway, so...yeah.

Mako was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't even realized nobody was paying attention to the other tributes. They were screaming her and his names as they threw roses and hats, all that kind of stuff eagerly at them. She wondered why for about three seconds before it hit her: Takeru was on fire.

_She _was on fire.

Her first instrict was to run, put herself out, find water. But then she realzied that she wasn't burning to nothingness...the flames weren't real. But it was certainly making for a good show. She was remembered someone...maybe it was Mike, telling her Sponsors were important. And people had to like you to get Sponosrs.

So she laid it on thick. Waving, blowing kisses, smiling like she was actually thrilled to see each and every one of them. That's when Takeru grabbed her hand with his and raised it in the air, elicting shrieks of thrill from excitment from the pumped-up crowd. When the chariot stopped when them still waving and such, the flames extigused with a single whisp of smoke that briefly formed a heart above them, making everyone roar again.

"Welcome, tributes," the voice of the President boomed over them, and she craned to see the elder man, "and thank you all for your courage, sacfice, and willingness to particpate in the 74th Annual Hunger Games!"

As crowd roared, she was conscience his gaze lingered on her a second more than the on the others'. He was sizing them up, and she had a feeling he knew something about her. The illegal hunting...no, he would've excuted her and Ryunnusuke for sure. Maybe he was impressed she volunteered for the most outer, poverted District of them all...

Or maybe he didn't like that.

"And may the odds..." his eyes met hers for a brief moment, "be ever in your favor."


End file.
